The invention relates to an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders, at least some of which can be deactivated during operation of the engine.
Internal combustion engines of the generic type are known from DE 196 11 363 C1 or DE 198 12 090 C2. Deactivating some of the cylinders can save fuel in the partial load range of the internal combustion engine.
The object of the present invention is to provide an internal combustion engine with deactivatable cylinders in such a way that even greater advantages can be achieved during operation of such an engine than in present engines with deactivatable cylinders.